


Coffee House, Warm House

by NanoTwentyFaces



Category: RWBY
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff and stuff, M/M, Modern AU, Romance, all of the fluffy stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 11:45:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13123068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanoTwentyFaces/pseuds/NanoTwentyFaces
Summary: Qrow, a traveling musician, never expected to fall for the local writer in the town of Patch, Ozpin. After two months of dates and meetups at the local cafe where Qrow performs, Ozpin decides to invite him over to his place instead.





	Coffee House, Warm House

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea for an AU for so long and I was able to use it for my Ozqrow Secret Santa (cut down a little bit for time and the prompt). There are two songs in this fic that are actually by Vic Mignogna, Qrow's voice actor. So you could listen to them when they come in as you read:  
> First song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGUgJiUTrVU  
> Second Song:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As0DyobEfck

Two months. Two months he’d been in town. And in those two months, Qrow Branwen has made a little bit of name for himself as a local musician. He’d even gotten a job at a music shop downtown. He taught kids, adults, teenagers to play guitar, sing, anything he knew himself how to do. It was never in his plan to stay for long. He didn’t stay anywhere long. He was a traveling musician; going wherever the music took him, wherever he felt like. He went to the little town of Patch for a long overdue visit with Tai and his nieces. What he didn’t plan on was becoming infatuated and falling head over his black, ankle boots for the local writer: Ozpin. 

He’d shown up at Tai’s door in early September, surprising the kids and took them out for the afternoon. They went to the park to walk Zwei and Qrow brought his guitar to work on another song. And suddenly there he was, walking through the park, his nose in a leather book, and green cane in hand. Mop hair, thin, green turtleneck, black vest, and dark green pants; his face obscured by it being buried in the book. Qrow watched him stop, tap his cane, twirl it up onto his shoulder, pivot and sit on the bench next to him. All the while, his face remained out of sight. Qrow tried to ignore him and continue strumming out ideas, penciling in his songbook, but his head, his eyes, kept glancing up at the stranger.  

He must have done something or luck was in his favor, because finally the book came down with a triumphant ‘ah’ from them. A pen appeared from nowhere as they wrote something down. And that was when Qrow saw their face. Well, the side of their face. 

 

And it was beautiful.

 

They had small, crooked glasses that dipped down on his nose. Said nose was a little square, but perfect shape, and pale, soft lips leading to a smooth chin and jawline. He couldn’t quite see their eyes, their mussy hair leaving them unseen. They were snazzy looking, clean-cut, and seemed important. Meanwhile, Qrow sat there in an old shirt, cutoff vest, and ripped jeans; messy, displaced, and trivial. 

Even though he thought of himself as less beside this mysterious man, he found his fingers picked at the strings easily, creating the perfect melody he was looking for. They danced across them, just letting it flow out him without thinking. As soon as he realized it was complete, he wrote it down in his book. He didn’t expect to be done with his song that quickly. He struggled to get the right harmony for so long and suddenly it was just there. He didn’t have time to revel in it as his eye caught a flash of red headed straight for them, more so the man next to him. With quick reflex, he stretched his hand over, catching the red frisbee right before it hit the man’s face. 

They both froze as it happened. The man flinching up from his book and blinking at the frisbee in Qrow’s hand in front of him. He looked over at Qrow, clearly confused. All Qrow could do was give an awkward smile. The moment didn’t last long before Zwei barreled into them, trying to get said frisbee from Qrow’s hand.

 

And that was catalyst on them meeting again. Qrow would bet every penny he had in-between his van seats that Ruby and Yang threw the frisbee at them on purpose, and Zwei was the insurance policy the plan would work. The dog barreled into the bench, making both of them drop their things; the man’s glasses falling off one side of his face, dangling, and sitting stunned on the bench. Qrow scrambled to apologize and pick up their things. The other man brushed himself off and readjusted his glasses saying it was fine, no worries. Qrow picked up what he thought was the other man’s book at the time, and held it out to him. 

That was when he finally saw the other man’s eyes. They were amber, and Qrow could almost swear, glowed. He smiled back at Qrow and took the book from his hands, thanking him, and handing him his book too. Qrow took it with an awkward smile and laugh, forcing himself to look away. 

What both didn’t know at that moment, and Qrow chalked up to being too distracted with the other, was that they gave each other the wrong book. What was even more ridiculous was that Qrow’s had his signature symbol on the cover.  Qrow didn’t realize he had the stranger’s book until they got home and reached into his back pocket to look back and what he wrote, and instead found a story instead of his music. Of course, he freaked out for five minutes at losing his songbook, but then found himself intrigued and curious at the story written. He had to force himself to put it down and stop reading. He had to find the stranger again. 

Luckily, they had written their name in the front cover: Ozpin Pine. And even more lucky, Tai recognized the name; an old friend of him and Summer. He apparently could be found at the local cafe, and that cafe happened to be the same one that Qrow had just secured his gigs at. 

 

And the rest is history. They met at the cafe and returned the other’s book. Each admitted that they’d read some of the other’s work and were impressed. Qrow wanted to hear more of the story and in turn Ozpin wanted to hear Qrow’s songs. That was how it started. They kept meeting at the cafe. They talked, laughed, shared stories, work, anything they had. The dates kept happening, Ozpin came to every one of Qrow’s shows, and after every show they’d sit together. With every date, every meeting, Qrow fell more in love. Neither could pinpoint when it became official, it just happened. They’re affection for the other became more apparent, more outright and public. The girls and Tai teased him at every opportunity. Tai was especially proud, because it seemed like Qrow was turning his life around. Qrow  _ was _ happier and couldn’t ask for more. 

 

Now, two months later, Qrow prepared for another show, debuting another new song. Ozpin was there at his usual table, book in hand and cup of coffee. Qrow slung his guitar on, slicked his hair back, and took the stage. He met Ozpin’s eyes, giving him a wink, and approaching his mic. 

 

_ I run and run a thousand miles _

_ and I am barely breathing _

_ Only the fuel of a passion heart _

_ Keeps this body strong and moving forward _

 

_ But, could it be I found a place to rest _

_ How far until I'm ok? _

_ Trees of the town reveal the time has come _

_ Once again to shift our shade and colors _

_ The world always changes around us but weakness will  _

_ always remain _

_ Through all the pain, _

_ Believe in, who we are right here and now _

 

_ Raise one hand to the sky! _

_ Raise them both! _

_ Lift them high! _

_ And you'll cut through the darkness, _

_ Make it go! _

 

_ The time to start is now! _

_ And I can show you how! _

_ Start with me and the world will be even bigger than  _

_ ever before _

Qrow met with Ozpin right after his show was over, like they always did. Qrow bounded around, out to the dining room. In his excitement he didn’t realize that Ozpin had moved up to the bar to meet him and ran straight into him. The big bouquet of flowers he had in hand, crumpled and lost a few of their petals. 

“Oh, Oz, sorry-uh here,” He held out the bouquet, “I got you these.” Tai told him to get flowers at least once. Apparently it’s romantic and good gesture. He was trying to hide his blush with the bouquet  in front of him. 

Ozpin was clearly flustered as well, a blush growing on his face matching some of the flowers. He took the bouquet, brushing his fingers against Qrow’s. “Oh, thank you. They’re very lovely, and there’s some of my favorites.”

“I kind of just got at least one of every flower they had.” Qrow admitted, awkwardly smiling. Ozpin chuckled at that. 

“Well, very clever.” Ozpin leaned in to smell the flowers. “I do love them.”

“Well, should we go to our usual table? I can pick up the tab tonight, this gig brought in a little extra cash.” Qrow offered, starting for their spot. Ozpin caught his hand. 

“Actually, I was thinking we can go back to my place tonight.” Qrow froze for a moment. This was new. “Save the money you earned. It’s certainly well deserved. Besides, “He leaned in to whisper in Qrow’s ear, “I believe that I can make you a much better hot drink than here for that performance you gave tonight.”

 

That was how they left, hand-in-hand, back to Ozpin’s house. Ozpin’s house was just what Qrow expected, but he was still surprised to see it. It was nice. He had an obsession with the color green and clocks. Very modern, clean, and polished. The living room had a piano in it, did Ozpin secretly play? It was a grand piano too. Qrow could feel his fingers twitching at his side; he wanted to play on that piano, he only had a basic electric one at the music shop and home. Ozpin must have noticed his twitch, or knew him that well, because he spoke up as they walked through the living room. 

“If you want, you can try out the piano later. It’s in good condition, and tuned.”

He made them drinks as promised. It wasn’t coffee.Turns out Ozpin’s favorite drink was hot chocolate. He was only ordering coffee most of the time at the cafe, because he worked so late on writing all the time. He even put mini-marshmallows in his, with such an adorable smile on his face. The man had a sweet-tooth. The man could make a damn good cup of hot cocoa. 

After Ozpin made their drinks, they found themselves on the living room couch. 

“So that was your new song sang tonight?” Ozpin sipped at his drink, leaning back into the couch. 

“Yeah, I finished it writing it last week at the shop. I almost have enough new songs for an album, or mixtape, or whatever.” Qrow replied, sipping his own. 

“How many more do you need?”

“Just one more, actually.”Qrow reached into his back pocket, pulling out his songbook. “And it’s almost finished. I’m this close, but I just can’t get the last thing I need to make it perfect.” He set his mug on the coffee table, opening the book. 

Ozpin leaned forward, setting his mug on the table as well, intrigued. “What kind of song is it?”

“Well,” Qrow started, trailing his fingers down the page, “It’s definitely different than what i’ve normally written. I’m using piano for the main and actually  _ only _ instrument.”

“So it’s more classical. Definitely different for you. What are you having trouble with?”

“Well, as you can see,” Qrow turned back to the first page of the song, “There’s no title, and no words for the chorus. I just can’t find the right words for it. It’s the stand-out, what will catch people, the climax of the song, you know?”

Ozpin leaned closer, taking his arm, rubbing it lightly. “I definitely know. I can never think of titles for my work either.” He laughed, adjusting his glasses. “Usually it just ends up with the placeholder I put there until I could come up with an _ actual _ title.” 

“Yeah, that reminds me,” Qrow leaning in to Ozpin, taking his arm now, “What are working on now, Mr. Poe? Isn’t your deadline coming up soon?” 

Ozpin untangled his arm from Qrow’s, “Yes, very much so. End of the month, in fact.” He reached into his bag on the floor, pulling out his book. “This one has actually been going very well. I just has to write the last three chapters and it’ll be ready to be sent to my editor.”

Qrow threw his arm around his shoulders, chuckling. “And how many all-nighters have you pulled to get there?” Qrow rubbed at Ozpin’s cheek with his knuckle, making him squirm and laugh. 

“Not too many,” Ozpin laughed, pushing Qrow’s hand down, “I promise.”

“So, what’s this one about? You haven’t let me read this one at all.”

Ozpin twirled little clumps of hair. He always got flustered whenever he let someone read his work in person. 

“Okay, you don’t have to tell me the entire story,” Qrow pulled Ozpin’s fingers out from his hair, “Just give me a basic rundown.”

“Okay, okay,” Ozpin held Qrow’s hand, flipping through the book, “It’s a type of love story that takes place in Paris.”

“Your editor’s not gonna jip you for a cliche of using Paris for a love story are they?”

“Oh no, I added a twist to it. This is a more steampunk version of the world so to speak. Technology, customs, the world is different from ours, but with the same locations.” 

“Steampunk. So you can work in that clock obsession of yours, right?” Qrow joked. 

“I quite like the style, and it makes for very interesting designs, see?” Ozpin turned a few pages to show off a character design sketched onto a page. “And Paris in that style would be exquisite.” He turned a few more pages to a sketch of a city made up of very vintage buildings mixed with gears and machinery. “And you can bet the Eiffel Tower has a very unique design.”

“Alright, I see it now. Now tell me about the story, will you? You can’t hide it from me forever.” Qrow squeezed his shoulder.

“You’re the one who asked about the setting.” Ozpin commented back, head-bumping him. “But, the story is about two people who meet underneath the Eiffel Tower. One is a clockmaker while the other is a music box maker. They first become friends and are intrigued at visiting each other’s shops after seeing the other’s pieces that they were working on there under the tower. They continue to visit each other. Eventually, the two start making pieces for each other. The clockmaker makes new clocks for the music box maker’s shop, while the music box maker creates smaller music boxes the clockmaker can put into his clocks.”

“Okay, sounds interesting.” Qrow commented. “Tell me more.”

“They continue to meet and work with each other. The music box maker begins to notice  that the clockmaker acts strangely at times and later, during a longer visit, he notices that he doesn’t hear any of the music boxes he made for the clocks. Suddenly, the clockmaker is struggling with money and work. The music box maker tries to help the clockmaker.”

“Keep going.” Qrow said, his eyes locked on the book. 

“I thought you didn’t want to hear the entire thing.” Ozpin joked. 

“I said you didn’t  _ need _ to tell me the whole story, but now I wanna hear the rest. I won’t tell anyone how it ends.”

“Very well.” Ozpin continued. “After some struggling, the clockmaker finally confides in the music box maker. It is revealed that the clockmaker’s heart is mechanical, and they need specific pieces to keep it running, but lately it has become harder to obtain them and more so pieces that will last. But, they did find that the music box maker’s pieces were perfect. They fit perfectly and lasted much longer than what he used before. The music box maker then sets out to make the perfect piece of machinery/mechanical engineering of their tools to create a new heart for the clockmaker, before the final pieces they have break.”

“Do they do it? You didn’t make this a sad ending did you?”

Ozpin chuckled. “No, don’t worry. I’m not one for making a lot of sad endings. What i’m  going to have happen is the music box maker struggles to create what the clockmaker needs. But, they then discover that the music box they made on the day they met the clockmaker is exactly what they need. One day, one year exactly after they met in fact, the clockmaker allows the music box maker to install the new piece.” Ozpin stole a glance at Qrow, who’s looking at the sketches again, fascinated. “And it works. The clockmaker’s new heart works better than ever before, and whenever the music box maker leans into their chest, they can hear the tune of the music box from when they first met. And that’s virtually where it ends.”

Qrow was still flipping through the pages, skimming them. “It’s different. Sounds like a regular old fairytale; in a good way. And I like that you make happy endings for your story. Too many authors out there make sad endings that don’t make any sense just to be edgy. Can’t tell you how many times i’ve had to listen to Ruby and Yang cry about fictional characters because of that.”

“Thank you, Qrow. I really appreciate that. I’m hoping Glynda, my editor, will feel the same way.” Ozpin ran a hand through his hair. 

Suddenly, Qrow stopped on a page, reading it closely. “Hey,” he nudged Ozpin, “What’s this line here? Is that French?”

Ozpin leaned over to read the line Qrow was pointing at. “Ah, yes.  _ “Je n'ai pas des mots” _ . It’s a line that the clockmaker says to the music box maker when they say they’ll make them a new heart. It means: “ _ I don’t have the words” _ . The way it comes off in French with the context is much better than having it English I thought. 

“That’s it!” Qrow jumped up from the couch, grabbing his songbook. 

“What’s it?” Ozpin got up following him to the piano. Qrow sat down, scribbling in the book and placing it up on the piano. 

“The title for my song.” Qrow clarified confidently. He flexed his fingers, and began playing, Ozpin sitting on the bench next to him. 

 

_ Come near and stand by me, baby. _

_ Close enough to reach out and pull you still closer, _

_ All that is swelling within me, _

_ Must be a language I've never spoken 'till there was you, _

_ I fumbled, try but I stumbled, _

_ Over all my heart wants to say now, _

 

_ Je n'ai pas de mots, _

_ Nothing seems to say the way you move me, _

_ Rushing through me, _

_ Je n'ai pas de mots, _

_ But a promise has been made you can believe this, _

_ From the first kiss, _

_ It's good that I don't have to speak to know that it's real, _

_ Je n'ai pas de mots. _

 

_ Come near and talk to me baby, _

_ How did you know you were, _

_ The dream of this dreamer, _

_ Oh god how I thank you for reading, _

_ In my heart the note I didn't even Know that I wrote, _

_ Of what I long for, _

_ You gave me much more, _

_ Love is standing beside me, _

 

_ Je n'ai pas de mots, _

_ Nothing seems to say the way you move me, _

_ Rushing through me, _

_ Je n'ai pas de mots, _

_ But a promise has been made you can believe this, _

_ From the first kiss, _

_ Je n'ai pas de mots, _

_ Oh! Nothing seems to say the way you move me, _

_ Rushing through me, _

_ Je n'ai pas de mots, _

_ But a promise has been made you can believe this, _

_ From the first kiss, _

_ It's good that I don't have to speak to know that it's real, _

_ Je n'ai pas de mots, _

_ Je n'ai pas de mots, _

_ Je n'ai pas de mots. _

 

Qrow exhaled, letting his finger float off the keys, finishing. He turned to Ozpin next to him, who seemed to be a little stunned. “Well, do you think it works?”

Ozpin took his arm, hugging it and leaning his head into his shoulder. “It’s perfect. I think that’s one of my favorite songs you’ve written. And I never knew you could play like that.” He ran a hand over Qrow’s chest, raising his head up. 

Qrow laid his hand over Ozpin’s on his chest. “I didn’t really know either. I’ve never been able to play on one of these babies. Too expensive for the music shop and me too. Which reminds me,” Qrow lifted the hand off his chest, “If you have this, does that mean you know how to play? Or is it just for the decoration?”

“I-um,” Ozpin stammered a little, looking away for a moment, “I used to play more often, but then when I started writing it ended up taking up all my time. Regrettably, I don’t think I can play the way that I used to.” 

“Now, I don’t think that’s true.” Qrow took both his hands, gently placing them on the piano, then his own further down. “The muscle memory’s in there, you just gotta ease yourself back into it.”  

They started playing, Qrow first with a simple tune. He let Ozpin follow and mimic him, testing the waters or keys so to speak. First, a slower pace, peaceful and a bit bittersweet. Qrow may have started showing off a little bit, impart to challenge Ozpin, to which Ozpin picked up on with Qrow’s smirk. Out of nowhere, the memory must have come back to him, Ozpin began playing fast and expertly. Matching Qrow’s speed and nimbleness, letting their fingers dance over the keys, creating a harmony of their melodies. It was a dance and competition, keeping up with other, letting them get lost in the music as well. 

Then they stopped, reaching the end of their song. They both took a breath, looking down to see that one of their hands had stopped right over top of the other in the middle. To even more of them blushing, their fingers had intertwined. Ozpin coughed, turning his head away from them, but not removing his hand from Qrow’s. 

“I swear I did not plan that.”

Qrow laughed, using their intertwined hands to pull him closer, squishing him against him with a kiss on the cheek. “I like the forwardness. Very clever, Oz.”

 

As the evening turned to night and slowed down, they moved back to the couch, wrapped in a blanket with more hot chocolate. Ozpin sat on one side of the couch, lounging back with Qrow laying across his lap against the armrest. 

“You know,” Qrow hummed, “We really should do these kind of dates more often.”

Ozpin sipped his drink, “I’ll be honest, I was a bit nervous of changing the plans to this at first. I wasn’t sure how it would go or what we’d do.”

“I didn’t expect it either. I didn’t even think once about bringing you to my place yet, or in actual truth, Tai’s place. Don’t think you’d want to have a date in an old van.” Qrow took a drink from his mug. “Guess we were both too nervous to ask each other over to the other’s house. Birds of a feather fly together as they say.” 

“Well this van of yours I wouldn’t mind seeing.” Ozpin commented. “You’re primarily a traveling musician, so perhaps one day we should go on a road trip.”

Qrow sputtered, sitting up a little. “You would want to go road trip with  _ me _ ?”

“Yes,” Ozpin nodded, “I think it would be fun, and beneficial for both of us. I know you’re a very flighty person. You want to move, you want to go places. Your name fits you. And I haven’t had the chance to do much traveling, so why not? I’d be more than willing to do it, if you would want to, of course.”

“Okay, maybe it would be fun.” Qrow gave him a playful smirk. “But there’s only one bed, so we’d have to share it.”

Ozpin laughed. “I figured as much.”

As they both laughed, Qrow shifted, placing his mug on the table; leaning up and wrapping his arms around Ozpin, nuzzling into his shoulder and neck. Ozpin continued to laugh, trying to push him away as he littered his neck and face with kisses, tilting them further over on the couch. 

“Qrow, stop, before I spill my drink.” Ozpin said between laughs and kisses the further they went. Ozpin was now almost laying down on the couch, Qrow on top of him, hugging and cuddling him close, still wrapped in their blanket. He managed to reach his arm over, setting the mug on the table. With the danger of the spill out of the way, he pulled his arm in now hugging Qrow back. It was so warm with the two of them and the blanket. Letting Qrow continue to cover his face with kisses he nuzzled back into Qrow. Being almost the exact same height, their faces squished and brushed against each other. 

Both ended up falling asleep right there, wrapped in the blanket and held close to the other; Ozpin nestled against Qrow’s chest, Qrow leaning his head into Ozpin’s.   

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the fluff (especially my SS recipient of this). I should write some more stuff with this AU cause it's really cute.


End file.
